Flying toy

ABSTRACT

A flying toy, such as an airplane, adapted to be secured to a surface of a vehicle by a tether in such a way that the stream of air caused by the motion of the vehicle will cause the toy to soar in the air over the surface, limited by the tether, the tether being attached to the vehicle by removable means.

United States Patent Mace [54] FLYING TOY [72] Inventor: Nute Mace, 87 Allen Street, Sylva,

[22] Filed: Dec. 23, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 211,353

[52] US. Cl ..46/77, 40/214 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63h 27/04 [58] Field of Search ..40/214; 46/74 R, 77

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,947,982 2/1934 Gerhardt et a1 ..46/77 X [451 Oct. 10, 1972 l/l960 Cone ..46/74 R X l l 960 Perkins ..46/ 77 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting Attorney-Robert Harding, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A flying toy, such as an airplane, adapted to be secured to a surface of a vehicle by a tether in such a way that the stream of air caused by the motion of the vehicle will cause the toy to soar in the air over the surface, limited by the tether, the tether being attached to the vehicle by removable means.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED ET 10 I972 3.6 96, 822

INVENTOR.

N UTE M A C E FLYING TOY This invention relates to flying toys which can easilybe attached to a surface of a vehicle by means of a tether in such a manner as to cause the toy to soar in the air above the surface under the lifting force of the air stream produced by the motion of the vehicle.

An object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive flying toy which may be easily attached to the surface of a vehicle without any harm to that surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy airplane with one or more tethers provided with removable means for attaching the tethers to the surface of a vehicle, so that the airplane can soar above the surface when the vehicle is moving, limited only by the tethers.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the hood of an automobile with the toy of the invention secured thereto;

FIG. 2 is a-plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of a portion of a wing of the airplane of FIG. 1 showing a wing flap which may improve the operation of the device;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a rubber suction cup for securing the tether to the surface of the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the suction cup of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a modification of the invention, showing an airplane mounted on a fixed support which is removably mounted on the surface of the vehicle.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, FIG. I shows a toy airplane I secured to the surface 2 of an automobile 3 by means of a tether or tethers 4. The airplane may be made of some very light, strong material, such as plastic or stiff paper, and may comprise a fuselage 5 provided with wings 6 and 7 extendnot interfere with the drivers view of the road. The rear tether I2 is used, together with the forward tethers 4, to limit the height to which the airplane will rise and to steady the airplane when aloft. The tether 12 has sufficient length to carry out this purpose.

In use, the airplane is held above the hood of the automobile at about the position desired in flight and with its nose pointing in the direction the automobile will travel, and the suction cups l3, l4, and 15 are moistened-and pressed on to the surface of the hood with the tethers extending to their full length. The suction cups should be spaced apart, as indicated in FIG. 2. The airplane is then placed on the hood. It will be evident that the tethers will be loose when the automobile is standing still, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. I. Now when the automobile is started in a forward direction and reaches a certain minimum speed, the air stream sweeping over the hood will produce will produce a lifting force under the wings of the plane to raise it off the surface of the hood. It will then rise until the tether 12, operating in conjunction with the two forward tethers4, will prevent it from rising any farther and will steady it as the automobile gathers speed. When the automobile slows down below the minimum speed referred to, the airplane will come down, guided in its descent by the two forward tethers 4. All this time ing out at the sides, tail fins 8, landing gear comprising wheels 9 mounted on the under side of the wings and a wheel 10 adjacent the rear of the fuselage, and a propeller II rotatably mounted at the nose of the fuselage.

1 preferably provide two tethers 4 which are attached, respectively, to the under sides of the wings at removably attaching them to the surface 2 of the automobile 3. I preferably use rubber suction cups 13, 14, and 15 for this purpose. These are shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 and are well known, so that further description is not deemed necessary.

The airplane I is shown in solid lines in FIG. 1 in flying position, raised above the surface 2 of the hood of the automobile 3. The forward tethers 4 are of sufficient length so that when the suction cups 13 and 14 are attached to the hood of the automobile near the front thereof, and the automobile is at rest, the airplane will rest on the surface of the hood, as shown in dotted I lines. Of course the suction cups would be attached to the right side of the hood, so that the airplane would the propeller 11 will be spinning around, driven by the air stream.

The two forward tethers 4 are desired to maintain the airplane facing in the forward direction as it rises and falls. However, if desired, a single tether may be effective if attached under a central portion of the fuselage. Also, the third tether 12 may be dispensed with if the attachment of the forward tether or tethers is at a portion of the fuselage to maintain a balance between the lifting force of the air stream and the restraining force of the tether or tethers.

In some instances I may desire to provide flaps 16 pivotally mounted on the forward edges 17 of the wings 6 and 7, as shown in FIG. 3. These flaps may be about half the length of the wings and somewhat less than the width of the wings. They are pivoted so that they will normally hang down under their own weight when the airplane is stationary. When the automobile is started, these wing flaps will tend to cause the front of the airplane to rise and so produce a rapid lifting action as the air stream increases in relative velocity. When the stream reaches a sufficient velocity, the flaps will fold under the wings and become aligned with the under side of the wings. As the speed of the automobile decreases, the flaps will swing down again and cause the airplane to land gently on the surface of the hood.

While I have shown and described a modern airplane as the flying toy of the invention, the toy may be formed as a bird or a kite, or any kind of an object which depends on the lifting power of an air stream to raise it and maintain it in a position above the vehicle to which it is attached by the tethers. Also, it will be obvious that the toy may be used in connection with a boat or any other vehicle.

What I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent l. A flying toy adapted to be secured to a vehicle and to be controlled in flight by the motion of said vehicle, comprising:

3 a. a body having plane surfaces adapted to catch th wind to providelifting force for said body; b. at least one flexible, filamentary tether attached to said body, and

c. means at the other end of said filamentary tether for securing said-end to a surface of said vehicle, said filamentary tether'being attached to said body. at a pointbeneath the plane surfaces thereof and so positioned that the air stream produced by the movement of said vehiclefaster than a predetermined rate of: speed will provide a lifting force on the underside of said plane surfaces to raise said body above saidsurface of said vehicle under control of said filamentary tether.

2.. The. combination, as defined in claim l,further comprising:

a. an additional, flexible, filamentary tether for attaching the body of the flying toy to a portion of said vehicle, spaced in a rearwardly direction-with respect to the direction of movement of said vehicle from that portion of the surface of said vehicle to which the first-mentioned tether is secured, said additional, flexible tether being of sufficient length to limit the flying position of said flying toy.

3. The combination, as defined in claim 2, further comprising:

a. means for removably securing the ends of the flexible, filamentary tethers to thesurface of the vehicle.

4. The combination, as defined in claim 3,in which the means for removably securing each tether to the surface of the vehicle comprises a suction cup.

5. The combination, as defined in claim l,-in which the flying toy is an airplane and .thetethers for securing the airplane to a surface of the vehicle comprise two filamentary members attached, respectively, to opposite wings of said airplane, the'other ends of said members being'at'tached to the surface of said vehicle at corresponding spaced points.

6. The combination, as defined in claim 5, further comprising: t

a. an additional, filamentary member attached to the airplane adjacent the rear thereof for securing said airplane to a point on the surface of said vehicle spaced in a rearwardly direction with respect to the direction of movement of said vehicle from the points of attachment of the first-mentioned filamentary members, said additional, flexible means being of sufficient length to limit the position of said airplane when flying.

" 7. The combination, as defined in claim 6, in which 

1. A flying toy adapted to be secured to a vehicle and to be controlled in flight by the motion of said vehicle, comprising: a. a body having plane surfaces adapted to catch the wind to provide lifting force for said body; b. at least one flexible, filamentary tether attached to said body, and c. means at the other end of said filamentary tether for securing said end to a surface of said vehicle, said filamentary tether being attached to said body at a point beneath the plane surfaces thereof and so positioned that the air stream produced by the movement of said vehicle faster than a predetermined rate of speed will provide a lifting force on the under side of said plane surfaces to raise said Body above said surface of said vehicle under control of said filamentary tether.
 2. The combination, as defined in claim 1, further comprising: a. an additional, flexible, filamentary tether for attaching the body of the flying toy to a portion of said vehicle, spaced in a rearwardly direction with respect to the direction of movement of said vehicle from that portion of the surface of said vehicle to which the first-mentioned tether is secured, said additional, flexible tether being of sufficient length to limit the flying position of said flying toy.
 3. The combination, as defined in claim 2, further comprising: a. means for removably securing the ends of the flexible, filamentary tethers to the surface of the vehicle.
 4. The combination, as defined in claim 3, in which the means for removably securing each tether to the surface of the vehicle comprises a suction cup.
 5. The combination, as defined in claim 1, in which the flying toy is an airplane and the tethers for securing the airplane to a surface of the vehicle comprise two filamentary members attached, respectively, to opposite wings of said airplane, the other ends of said members being attached to the surface of said vehicle at corresponding spaced points.
 6. The combination, as defined in claim 5, further comprising: a. an additional, filamentary member attached to the airplane adjacent the rear thereof for securing said airplane to a point on the surface of said vehicle spaced in a rearwardly direction with respect to the direction of movement of said vehicle from the points of attachment of the first-mentioned filamentary members, said additional, flexible means being of sufficient length to limit the position of said airplane when flying.
 7. The combination, as defined in claim 6, in which the means for attaching each of said filamentary members to the surface of the vehicle comprises a suction cup.
 8. The combination, as defined in claim 5, further comprising: a. wing flaps pivotally mounted on the forward edges of the wings of the airplane, and b. means for pivotally attaching said flaps to said wing edges.
 9. The combination, as defined in claim 8, in which the flaps have a length approximately one half the length of the wing and a width approximately one half the width thereof. 